ONCE Wins Tony for Best Book of a Musical

Enda Walsh is this year's recipient of the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ONCE.

Walsh is an Irish playwright living in London. He is the winner of numerous international awards, and his work has been translated and produced worldwide. Recent plays: Misterman (Landmark, Ireland), Penelope, The New Electric Ballroom, The Walworth Farce (All Druid Theatre, Ireland). Other plays: Chatroom, The Small Things, Bedbound, Disco Pigs. Shorter plays: How These Desperate Men Talk, Lynndie’s Gotta Gun, Gentrification, My Friend Duplicity, Room 303. Film credits include Hunger.

ONCE opened on March 18, 2012 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre and stars Steve Kazee as 'Guy' and Cristin Milioti as 'Girl.' Also in the company are David Abeles, Will Connolly, Elizabeth A. Davis, David PatRick Kelly, Anne L. Nathan, Lucas Papaelias, Ripley Sobo, Andy Taylor, Mckayla Twiggs, Erikka Walsh, Paul Whitty, and J. Michael Zygo.

ONCE features a book by award-winning Irish playwright & screenwriter, Enda Walsh (Penelope, Hunger, The New Electric Ballroom), the Academy Award-winning music and lyrics of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, direction by the acclaimed John Tiffany (Black Watch),movement by Steven Hoggett (Black Watch, American Idiot) and music supervision and orchestrations by Martin Lowe (Mamma Mia!).

ONCE is the celebrated new musical based on the Academy Award-winning film. It tells the story of an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful but complicated romance, heightened by the raw emotion of the songs they create together. Brought to the stage by an award-winning team of visionary artists and featuring an ensemble cast of gifted actor/musicians, ONCE is described as "a musical celebration of life and love: thrilling in its originality, daring in its honesty... and unforgettable in every way."

ONCE was originally developed at the American Repertory Theater (Cambridge, Massachusetts) in April 2011; Diane Paulus, Artistic Director; Diane Borger, Producer.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

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